You have a beautiful home! Congratulations on your hard work and the outstanding results. Why not create a GARDEN rather than a row of foundation plantings? While sitting on your porch, why not have something nice for YOU to see? What I envision there is DEPTH through a little garden that looks good from the street, from your walkway and from your porch. In your photo -- at the bottom of your wide stairs I see a landing (brick?) and a group of plantings off to the right side? Why not come out to the outside depth line of that group of plantings and go left with a generously curved garden room? You could place some nice stepping stones leading from that brick landing heading off to the left corner of your house. Place them in a nice curve so that a person can wander down the path and see your nice lattice work. Make the "destination" for your path a nice small ornamental tree (Japanese Maple in your area?) set off the left corner of your porch, slightly forward so you can see it from the landing and the porch. You could add a garden accent such as a small bench, finial or olive jar to create the vignette. A water feature using a jug overflowing into stones beneath would also give you some sound while enjoying your porch. On the outside of your path (the street view) you can plant a nice mix of woody ornamentals, blend in a few evergreens, add spring bulbs and perennials to give you year-round interest. On the inside curve of your path next to your lattice, you can choose from a wide variety of small evergreen and deciduous choices. I can't suggest the actual plants since I'm down here in North Carolina and have no experience with your zone. That said, I like to use foliage colors that work well together. My favorite combination is purple/burgundy with gold foliage accented with a variegated green/white. As an example, I have a vignette beside my waterfall that consists of a cryptomeria japonica (nice green, zone 5-9), hypericum androsaemum 'albury purple' (burgundy woody ornamental, 3x3', zone 5-7), creeping jenny -Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' (gold ground cover, zone 3-8), Lobelia x speciosa 'Queen Victoria'(red perennial, zone 6-8), Carex morrowii 'Silver Sceptre'(variegated sedge, zone 5-9). In creating a "color" vignette, you will notice that I mix textures and leaf shapes. The cryptomeria is textured, the hypericum has oval leaves, the sedge has narrow fountain leaves, the jenny has round leaves, the lobelia is tall, thin and spikey. My waterfall cryptomeria is too tall for your space, but there is a cryptomeria japonica 'globosa nana' that I use in my shrub garden that is a nice mounded, rounded shape, slow-growing to 5x5 for zones 5-9. It is somewhat rusty red in winter here. I use it as a backdrop for deutzia gracilis 'nikko', a deciduous white flowering shrub 3x3, zones 4-8. Please take your time with your project. Look at the space at different times of the day from different locations. Think about what you want to "do" there rather than what you want passerbys to see. Best wishes. Here is a link that might be useful: see photos 14-17 for vignette

Thanks for the suggestion Donn, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' is actually on my list of plants to purchase this year but it's not really a match for the Phalaris which is white and green stripped and upright whereas the Hakonechola is yellow and green and weeping. I do have the clumping Miscanthus sinensis variegatus which is a match in terms of coloration and form but the size is much taller and wouldn't fit where I currently have the Phalaris. Maybe I should try surrounding the phalaris with a barrier...? I wonder if plastic edging would work? - Steve

The names are often used interchangeably :-) But a true 'Evergold' has a broader, more golden colored median stripe with distinct green margins. 'Aurea-variegata' has less well-defined variegation and is generally of a more creamy, white color, less intensely gold. IME, the variegation follows the same pattern for both (green margins, colored center stripe) and 'Evergold' presents with a wider blade. But there is much confusion within the industry on the exact taxonomic status of both, hence the often interchangeable names. Based on just your photo, I'm not convinced your plant is either or even a sedge. There doesn't appear to be much variegation apparent at all (even young plants of both will have very obvious variegation) and sedges are clumpers - it is very unusual to be able to separate a clump into individual stalks with roots like your photo displays. Does it have a sharp edge to the blades? Is it possible to post additional photos that show the grass better in close up?

There are quite a few which fit your description. Use Google Images and have a look at these examples: Low growing: Acorus gramineus Variegatus - Dwarf White Striped Sweet Flag (grass-like but not a grass) Carex ciliatomarginata 'Treasure Island' Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance' Carex morrowii 'Silver Sceptre' Hakonechloa macra 'Albo-Striata' Liriope muscari 'Variegata' (grass-like but not a grass) Phalaris arundinacea 'Dwarf Garters' A bit taller: Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio' (2-4') Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland' (3-4') Phalaris arundinacea var. picta 'Feesey' (2-3') Phalaris arundinacea var. picta 'Picta' (3-4')